Brihault: "The perfect atmosphere"

EHF Vice President Jean Brihault looks back at the EHF 20th Anniversary celebrations.

www.eurohandball.com caught up with EHF Vice President Jean Brihault to talk about the EHF 20th Anniversary celebrations.

eurohandball.com: What is your personal conclusion of the 20th Anniversary of the EHF, entitled 'HeartBeat HandBall'?

EHF Vice President Jean Brihault: It was a great possibility to show the life of the EHF and to show the achievements of the EHF. One of our jobs is to create events – and this event was great. We showed that we can transform handball games to events.

eurohandball.com: What feedback did you receive from the participants?

EHF Vice President Jean Brihault: That the atmosphere of the whole event was excellent, everybody was extremely satisfied with the gala, the workshop and the conferences. I received many thanks and congratulations, mostly they were expressed to the elected people, but especially all the EHF office staff have to receive it, too.

eurohandball.com: Was the event something like a family gathering?

EHF Vice President Jean Brihault: Yes, it was an event of the handball family with great chances of introducing and communicating between National Federations, IHF and all our official and informal partners. It was the perfect atmosphere to exchange.

eurohandball.com: In your opinion: Was the event more a look back on 20 years or more a look ahead to the future?

EHF Vice President Jean Brihault:  Both, it was like the 10th anniversary but on a much higher level. Especially the workshops were intended and successfully used for a look what we can do in the future, not complaining of what we had not reached in the past. This event was important to build an even better future. A lot of suggestions can be used for the changes which are needed in the future to improve handball.

eurohandball.com: What are the most important tasks of the EHF in the mid-term of next years?

EHF Vice President Jean Brihault:  In our bylaws we have this 12 years cycle for the elected bodies – and we still have four years ahead of us. Our task number one will be the development of women’s handball. The gap between the fast developing men’s competitions and the women’s has become versatile. Men’s handball is a tremendous success, but we will not neglect the women.

The EHF women’s handball steering group has made great suggestions at this event and we will work hard on this development. The second most important task is the successfully started development of the Professional Handball Board. This platform for all stakeholders is an extremely useful tool, and we have to continue developing this. In this context we will continue our strategy that club events and national team event will walk side by side, as they are not opponents. If the general interest in handball will rise, both sides take the benefit from it.

eurohandball.com: And what about the long-term strategies?

EHF Vice President Jean Brihault:  We will first help those countries, in which handball need the support from the EHF to raise more interest. Aside we will use modern technology, supplied by the office staff to our work as the elected bodies. Another target is the development of educational and coaching structures. When you see the long agenda of the scientific conference you can imagine the great interest on this development.